The Life and Adventures of Sheik
by Xenovent
Summary: The story of Zelda's life after Gannondorf plunged the world into darkness. From the dissipearence of Link to how Zelda became known as Sheik of the Sheikah. Ch. 3 is up!
1. Chapter 1: Falling into Darkness

The Life and Adventures of Sheik  
  
  
  
Prologue:  
  
Everything was going so well, I don't understand what happened.  
One minute, I'm standing near the Temple of Time with the Ocarina, ready to get to the Triforce before Gannondorf, the next I'm being carried out my protector, Impa. Somehow, the evil man had gotten warning of what we were planning, and he chased us out of the castle. As we raced out of the castle, I saw him. The boy from my dream. The "Sacred" that was to part the clouds. I figured he was our best chance, so I threw the Ocarina to him, sealed with the song that would allow him into the Sacred Realm. I thought we were safe. But I was wrong. Something terrible happened. The boy never came back, Gannondorf somehow claimed the Triforce, and the world fell into darkness...  
Now, I wait in secret for the boy to return to us, someday...  
I only hope that when he does, he'll be able to fulfil the prophecy that Fate has labeled him to do....  
Please Link, come back and redeem our beautiful land of Hyrule!  
  
  
Chapter One: Falling into Darkness  
  
  
It had been a few days since the eight-year-old Princess Zelda had last seen Link, and she was beginning to get worried. By now, she thought to herself, he should have been through the Sacred Realm and back with the Triforce. After their escape from the Castle, Impa and Zelda had retreated into hiding in Kakariko village, Impa's hometown. She turned towards Impa, who was across the room preparing lunch for the two. "Impa, what happened to Link? Don't you think he should be back by now, or at least made a wish on the Triforce?" Impa looks over her shoulder at the princess, "Please understand, Princess, that we do not know much of the Sacred Realm. It could take him days to find the Triforce, or maybe the dimensions are not on the same units of Time..." The Princess frowns, trying hard to understand the explanation Impa had given. Seeing her frustration, Impa takes the pan she was cooking in and comes over, pouring out its contents onto Zelda's plate. "Don't worry Princess. We know he got through the door of Time before Gannondorf, so there is nothing to fear." Zelda smiled slightly, wanting to believe Impa's optimistic words, but after Zelda had thrown the Ocarina of Time into Hyrule Castle's moat, it was uncertain what had occurred. Though her dreams had shown her to have faith in Link, her dreams over the last few nights had been too dark and strained to be ones of salvation to come. "Princess, please eat. There is nothing we can do now but wait."  
"OK..." responded Zelda. She pushed her dreary thoughts beside and tried to focus on lunch. "Mm, its good!" she exclaimed, trying hard to be as optimistic as Impa...  
Another week passed.  
Things began to change for the worse. First it was the sky, turning from its usually happy and cloudless sky of blue, into a forbidding shade of purple.  
Soon, news of such creatures as Poes and wandering spirits began to reach the ears of the villagers, and Zelda knew that something had gone wrong, and Gannondorf had seized the Triforce.  
As the days past, so did Zelda's and Impa's hope that Link was even still alive. The first of the "Hell's Raptures", as the people of Kakariko soon began to know them as, occurred. ReDeads invaded Hyrule Market Town, and the town's people that survived sought shelter at Kakariko. Things grew worse from there. Zora's domain began to freeze over, an ancient and evil dragon was revived in Death Mountain, and the previously magnificent Hyrule Castle was vaporized, leaving only a gaping crater of active lava....  
  
I can't believe all this is happening. Even worse, I also know it's my fault. The world is falling into darkness, and it is all because of me. Yesterday though, one of the villagers saw a ReDead near the river outside of the village. I fear that Kakariko may be next to collapse... 


	2. Chapter 2: Shadowplay

The Life and Adventures of Sheik

Chapter 2: Shadowplay

Disclaimer: As nice as it would be, I own nothing mentioned here. Zelda, Link and everything else related to them are owned by Nintendo. End of story.

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"I suppose I knew it would be happening soon. If the rest of the world fell into death's shadow, what was there to keep Kakariko safe? Well, little did I know there was something out there to do just that…"

They all knew the day was coming soon. News of the Redead raids was growing more and more urgent. The townspeople of Kakariko became further restless as the days drew on. And that is when it all came crashing down.

As if nature itself felt what was coming, the sky had blanketed Kakariko with sheet after sheet of piercing rain. By this time, Zelda had ventured outside, a strange urge overtaking her to seek camaraderie with the storm. She heard something, something unlike she had ever heard before, and it struck a terrified chord down to her soul. The sound echoed again, an inhuman shriek that nearly made Zelda jump at its abruptness. She couldn't be sure, but she thought she heard another sound under it, that one being almost too human. A feeling of urgency came upon her, and without thinking she rushed towards the main gate where the shriek had originated. 

As she grew closer, yet another sound became audible under the pattering of the rain, some type of tortured groaning. She stopped suddenly, that subhuman murmuring was a sound she had heard before. Once before, while passing the abandoned and forsaken plaza of Hyrule's Market Town. _Redeads!_ thought Zelda to herself as she came to an abrupt halt. She spotted the drained body of the Royal guard that had been previously stationed outside the gate to the town, and instantly knew what was happening…they had come.

Desperately she tried to turn and run, but it was already too late as the deformed figure of a redead caught her in its gaze. It let out another unnatural shriek, its sound so agonizing it permeated her soul, paralyzing her in place. The redead started its way towards her, and in the way it moved and moaned, it looked to Zelda like more of a lost soul trapped within some sort of disfigured doll. She stared helplessly in mute horror as the creature limped its way all the more closer, threatening to lunge out at her at any given moment. It paused a moment in front of her, admiring its victim, and lunged

Zelda's short life began to flash before her eyes as the redead lunged through the air at her. Memories of royal balls and enjoying soothing picnics in the castle's court yard glittered before her eyes. More than any other memory, though, memories of Link and the quest and the destinies that seemed destined never to be fulfilled flooded her mind. _Link…_ she thought with what seemed to be her final moment. _What happened? Where did you go? Where is the world we were supposed to save together…?_ And that is when the world flashed around her.

Zelda's paralytic trance was broken. She threw herself to the ground, covering her head in an attempt to blot out the light, and to keep the demon from consuming her. For what seemed a long moment, everything was still. Realizing that the assault of the redead was slow in coming, he allowed herself a look upwards…and saw nothing. Stealing a glance around, she noticed the redead sprawled on its back, its soul apparently sent back to the hell it had originated. In an act of childlike defiance, she gave the creature a sharp kick. Something fell out of its neck, and clattered to the ground. Tilting her head, Zelda stepped over the redead and picked it up. It was a small, flat, silver dart. Looking it over, she discovered a symbol on it that immediately tipped her off to where it came from. "This symbol…it's…an eye of Truth? This is a Sheikah dart…"

Zelda spent the next twenty minutes trying to find Impa and question her about the dart. Searching all around the town, Zelda was soon dumbfounded as to where her caretaker could have gone and disappeared to. Then, it dawned on her. Redeads don't travel alone! Zelda began to rush back towards the gate, past where the dead redead lie, past the dried body of the former royal guard, past the open gate. But if I only saw one, then...

She was on the stairs now. She rounded the first flight that gave her an open view of Hyrule field, and she saw why she saw only one. From where she stood, rows upon row of undead soldiers from the bottom of the stairs to past the small bridge were trying to march up and take Kakariko for themselves. The only thing standing in their way was the small pockets of the white and blue clad protectors known as the Sheikah among the waves of brown. So frightening was the sight that Zelda took an unsteady step back, and tripped.

Through the penetrating sounds of the redeads' moaning, the flicks of darts through the air, and the shrieks as redeads struck down some of her fellow Sheikah, Impa thought she heard a new sound. She threw a small nut towards a redead, setting it ablaze as it struck, and she spun around, trying to locate the source of the faint thud. Looking towards the stairs, she saw Zelda there, her eyes wide and tear-streaked. Impa grimaced. The call to arms had been so sudden, Impa had not even been given the chance to secure Zelda safely. Taking down the lone redead that had somehow managed to break the Sheikah lines was the only support she had been able to offer. But now, she felt it necessary to get the Princess to safety. She threw down her hand, the signature flash giving her the time to appear next to Zelda. "Princess! You must get back to the city, it is to dangerous here!" Zelda looked at her, her eyes portraying the numbing shock that she was in. "Impa...make them go away..." She cringed, putting her hands over her ears and looking towards the ground. "Princess...come with me" Taking Zelda's hand, Impa preformed another Sheikah teleport, and they reappeared back at Impa's house. "Stay here Princess, I'll come back for you as soon as I can."

With that, Impa left Zelda to battle with the hellish image that would be engraved in her memory for the rest of her life...

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Phew...I could've gone further without leaving such an abrupt ending, but I thought the chapter was spanning just a bit too long. But now with this done, I should actually start getting this fic on the ball. Expect the next chapter within another week or two.

'Til then!


	3. Chapter 3: Phoenix Burning

The Life and Adventures of Sheik

Chapter 3: Phoenix Burning

Disclaimer: Again, Nintendo everything Zelda, aside from my own character introduced in this chapter, Tyk!

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As I lay there crying, the Sheikah were out there dying. They were sacrificing everything in order that Kakariko and I would go on living. It is for them the memorial stands, and it is for them I became who I am now.

The battle was waging on. That is, if it could be considered a battle. To Impa, it felt more like holding of a mob of brainless zombies. That too, of course, wasn't far from the truth either.

A few meters away from Impa, Tyk know they were fighting a losing battle. She was leader of the Order Guard assigned to the Death mountain region, and as such had been one of the first to arrive. One of the first to witness the horrid mass of brown groaning spectres in flesh, and knew that it would take all of her Sheikah experience and skills to hold it off. But the two dozen or so Sheikah who had come to Kakariko's aid were simply not enough, and by the second they were losing more and more ground as little by little the Sheikah protectors fell. Tyk glanced over at Impa for a second and their gazes met, their expressions enough to portray the depth of hopelessness that the two old friends both felt. 

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There must be more I can do! Impa screamed to herself as she flung her last dart through the neck of yet another nameless redead. The look she had just exchanged with Tyk was a clear sign that both of them knew that there was not anything more they could do, but at the same time, it had filled her with new determination. Impa had met the young Sheikah before she had even been as old as Zelda. They had become close quickly, first as master and pupil, and then as she grew, close friends. But that had all happened more than a decade ago. Tyk must've been around eighteen now, and Impa would not allow her to die before the prime of her life. That, and her sworn duty as Zelda's protector called for the survival of Kakariko. No matter how hopeless it was, Impa would not allow Kakariko to be consumed by the minions of darkness, whatever it took to save it, she would do. 

Inside Impa's house, Zelda paced furiously. With the image of what was happening right outside the town etched into her mind, Zelda simply could not stay still. She had stopped crying too, but not by her own will. She was simply too worried about Impa and the other Sheikah to lay there weeping for her own selfish fear. She wanted to help, but she didn't know if there was anything she could do. She secretly wished she was as strong and swift as a Sheikah, maybe then she would've been able to help Link gain the spiritual stones, be with him when he opened the Door of Time and entered the Sacred Realm. Maybe if she had been a little stronger, she wouldn't have failed Hyrule…

Zelda shook her head vehemently. Now was not the time to be having doubts about what she had done. It was for Hyrule, she hadn't given up without a fight. And she certainly wasn't about to now. She kept that sense of pride as she walked towards the door.

Out in front of the pathway leading up to Kakariko, a feeling of ending was heavy in the air. The redead mob had been whittled down to a few dozen, but the Sheikah has less than ten. These, including Impa and Tyk, had formed a line in front of the steps and were more or less lined up a couple of feet away, ready to charge…as best a redead could charge, anyway. It was the final showdown. Impa and Tyk, side by side, gave each other wan looks. No more darts, no more magic, it was a simple matter of taking out the remaining redeads with their bare hands. It seemed they stood a chance. At that moment, Tyk felt a massive surge of pride for her guild. The Sheikah had always been protectors of the Royal Family. But with the palace incinerated and darkness flowing over the world, it was nice to see they could still do their job as guardians. Tyk couldn't help but smile. She turned and looked around at the wearied faces of her comrades. "Come on, let's do it for the Sheikah! We won't be taken off the face of this world by a bunch of mindless zombies!" A few scattered laughs echoed in the depth of the moment. They all turned to face the remaining redeads, and took the initiative to charge.

Zelda watched the moment from the top of the stairs. She knew Impa would be upset with her if she knew she left the house, but she just couldn't stand being locked up in there, worrying about Impa every second. Since Impa had been the only one without a ritual head covering, she had been easy enough to pick out from the remaining Sheikah. Zelda was glad to see she was still all right, but the gory scene beyond them with the corpses of both redeads and Sheikah tempered her spirit somewhat. The Sheikah had sacrificed nearly everything for Kakariko and her and she determined to repay them someday for their heroic act. One of the Sheikah spoke out, "Come on, let's do it for the Sheikah!" Zelda smiled softly to herself. She was glad that they had no resentment. Then Zelda watched as the seven remaining Sheikah charged towards the thirty-odd redeads that remained, and knew it would soon be over.

Sheikah clashed with redeads in a vicious dance of kicks, punches, and screams. With their renewed sense of purpose, the seven Sheikah were taking down redeads quickly and efficiently. Seven, twelve, eighteen fell in unity from Sheikah blows. A redead grabbed Impa's arm, only to lose its own arm by a well-executed chop from Tyk. Impa smiled at her. "It is nice to see we will actually have time to catch up after this." Tyk smiled back. "I agree, Impa…it has been a long time…look out!" Impa spun to see a redead leap at her. Using its momentum, Impa pressed her hands against it and flung it over her into a group of redeads behind her. "Thanks." Impa grinned, a sense of relief flooding over her. Looking around, she saw that what redeads that remained had been disposed of. They had won. But also looking around, she saw that the price of their victory had been very high. Out of the many Sheikah that had been able to show up, only seven of them remained. She frowned to herself, and Tyk laid a hand on her shoulder, "I know what you're thinking Impa. We have had a great loss today. But don't forget we also had a great victory. The Sheikah are guardians, we all know what we sacrifice our lives in order to protect the lives of others. It is what we live for. Never forget that." Relenting to Tyk's comforting words, she turned and gave her old friend a slim smile, "Well now, it seems the student has become the teacher…" "It could never compare to what you've taught me. But in any case, we owe our comrades enough to be properly buried and hold a memorial service. Let's get that done, and then we'll have some time to chat."

So, with that said, and the battle to save Kakariko won, the two Sheikah began the preparations to put to rest their shattered comrades who had died that the remnants of the Hylian people would live on. But the burning in Impa's heart told her that life would never be the same again, and it was right.


End file.
